The beginning were a monk and a ‘booklet’ – Paisii and his ‘Slavbulgarian history’. It was the XVIIIth century. The Balkan became a symbol of the nation’s awakening and a stronghold of the Bulgarian spirit.
    Altan Lovech was one of the richest Bulgarian towns in the Revival Period. The old part of the town, Varosha, situated on the bank of the river, has been preserved as an architectural reserve in its authenticity.
    The process of building from the Bulgarian National Revival Period /at the beginning of the 70’s of the XIXth century/ is the main part of the architectural heritage of the neighbourhood. Its streets are narrow and winding. The residential areas are small, surrounded by high stone fences. The yards are usually of several levels, planted with ivy and bill’s crane, smelling of lilac and roses. The most beautiful representatives of the architecture typical of Varosha are houses built in the period 1850-1870, most of which are two-storeyed. They are characterized by the lack of shops. The whole craft industry is centered in the market street and on the Covered Bridge.
    Many goods from West to East and from North to South were transported through the town and this made it flourish. The trade blossomed as in the richest towns in Bulgaria. That’s why it was called Altan Lovech. The town was mentioned under that name in an official document in the middle of the XVIth century. It was Altan Lovech even in 1784. Even in the reports of the Russian command since then it has been said: ‘If the army of Your Majesty manages to keep Lovech, it will be a blessing from heavens, because the town is richer than many of our towns and its population rightfully calls it Altan Lovech’.
    Lovech was one of the centres of the National Liberation War. Noisy with its trade, famous for its privileges, its energetic inhabitants, the town was very convenient for secret revolutionary activity. The Apostle put up here and it was not by chance that he proclaimed the town the capital of the temporary Bulgarian government. And the busy roads which led to the vast plain in the North or to the shady valley of the river helped the Apostle easily contact the secret revolutionary committees all over the country.
    19 kilometres far from the town on the road to Sevlievo is the inn of Kakrina in which the Apostle of the Bulgarian liberty was caught on December 27, 1872. The museum exposition tells of the beginning of Levski’s immortality and the only witness of his capture – the age-old elm – is still rising in its yard.